Herby: 'How prickly hedgehogs helped changed my life'
Steph Knowles began her wildlife charity almost by accident when she decided she needed to get out and meet people.
She was registered disabled and faced being stuck at home in Eldwick near Bingley with little social interaction.
But a chance encounter with a hedgehog in need changed her life and the lives of 4,000 other hedgehogs over the last 10 years.
Now her hedgehog rescue service run by herself and an army of willing volunteers is celebrating its first decade in operation.
"These little prickly creatures have changed my life for the better,” said Ms Knowles who used to work in recruitment. “And it all came about by chance when I found a hedgehog which needed care.”
And when she found hedgehog rescue centres were few and far between she decided to set up her own and now has 74 animals under care at the moment looked after by 30 volunteers. More help may be needed in the new year when the breeding season begins again.
Her group is called Herby – Hedgehog Emergency Rescue Bingley, Yorkshire – and is busier than she ever imagined. She gives talks to schools and colleges and offers work experience to students.
One of the current hedgehogs is Pippin who is now getting ready to be released into the wild. “She has been with us for parasite treatment,” said Ms Knowles. “We are looking to expand so hopefully we will be able to look after more in the future. Hopefully she will be able go and have lots of young who may be future patients for us.
Anothjer hedgehog was brought in with ringworm and was “very poorly” but is now recovering. She was brought in with siblings but is the only one of her group remaining.
She recently found a hedgehog which she named Bruce tangled in a fence near her home. With some power tools, they dismantled part of the structure with the approval of the owners and saved the animal.
She said within a day he was running around and on the road to recovery. “Hedgehogs are amazingly hardy and tend to reover well,” she said.
He is having regulary bath – or hydrotherapy – sessions which he seems to enjoy.
"Hedgehogs can swim for about 20 minutes on their back but they can become waterlogged after that,” she said. “Hedgehogs do a form of hoggy paddle, which is a bit like a doggy paddle but more fun! They tend to paddle for a little while and if they didn't like it they would be out of there very quickly.”
The hedgehogs are regularly weighed so they can be sure they are gaining weight and eating well.
One of the oldest hedgehogs in care is Esther who is about eight. “That’s incredibly old for a hedgehog,” she said. “Esther has been with us longer than we usually like. Because she is older her immune system has dipped a little. A medication that we normally give three or four doses of she has had seven. She is about to undergo another test to see if she is responding to the medication.”
Hedgehogs share distant ancestry with shrews, and they have changed little over the last 15 million years. The Herby group can be contacted via Facebook.